At last — he says, after a few days of data-entry — we arrive at the bit where the photo-taking habit begins in earnest. It gets a little patchy with the actual Diary for a while, but they’ll soon synch up.

Verbatim: Orkney Skull Splitter. 16/5/08. $10 @ Malthouse 8.5%. Recommended in lieu of a Tangle Foot, out of a selection of a half-dozen. Dark, forboding, warm, seriously boozy nose. Dark fruity stuff. Datey, in a good way. Heavy, but less than you’d think. Deceptive 8.5%. Sweet. Barleywine-ish, says Barguy.

Afterthoughts, October 2010: “Barguy” in this case is Scotty, the Malthouse’s Bar Manager. I had apparently run them out of Tangle Foot, and we were on the hunt for something suitable to have instead. Obviously we drifted miles away, in style terms, but the winning factor here was that Skull Splitter hails from the same island as my beloved Highland Park whisky.

Verbatim: Orkney Brewery Dark Island. 10/12/07, $6ish, 4.6%, 500ml. Watching House. Very black, but the bubbles don’t hang around. Smells of the usual dark ale stuff, but quite light. Feels almost foamy, aerated. All this isn’t negative, it’s just less full-on than expected. Good dark ale, with zestiness and not too much bitterness.

Afterthoughts, October 2010: RateBeer.com has it as an ‘old ale’, and BeerAdvocate.com has it as a ‘scotch ale’. You can see how these things get tricky. I had it pegged, in my relative ignorance as porter-ish, but hey. I really should get to Orkney one day; I’ve had a few good beers from there, and it’s home to my beloved Highland Park whisky.

And, damn, that’s a scanner-friendly pen, isn’t it?

Verbatim: Fraoch Heather Ale. 500ml, $7ish, 5%, 29/10/07. Watching Dr Who, and having been randomly given a sprig of heather on Lambton Quay. Heather instead of hops. Apparently old school Gaelic. It’s good. Flowery, very slightly peaty (less than they say). The only fault would be that it’s not different enough, or as you’d expect. Oh. Surprising kick, though. And grows on you. Better when less cold.

Afterthoughts, October 2010: The timing really did weird me out, here. I’d bought a bottle in the previous few days, and had it sitting on my desk at my place on the Terrace. Then, when wandering home, some very peculiar chap was walking down the street handing out sprigs of heather. How the hell could I not take the hint? I did wish that the beer was as peculiar as the chap — but I also know these unhopped beers would hardly be commercially-viable if they were as utterly freaky as I (for some reason) wish they would be. But this, like the Spruce Beer not-too-long before it, was good fun.

Verbatim: Three Sisters Scottish Ale. 500ml, $7ish, 4.2%, 27/10/07. Watching Top Gear and having a beer to normalise after going to a mad Christian thing. Bubbles vanish. Smells very dark / burnt coffee and choc. Decent dark ale, but.

Afterthoughts, October 2010: The “mad Christian thing” was the big (and creepily-named) ‘Harvest’ thing that evangelical bigwig Greg Laurie threw here in civilised old Wellington. It was pretty strange. Though, admittedly, I was there specifically to witness the strange. Even the few Christian friends (I have plenty, actually) I bumped into there were pretty weirded-out, too.